The Girard-Perregaux Laureato Absolute Ti 230 Goes Full Titanium

The landscape of high-end luxury sport watches has hit a fever pitch in recent years, but while the mainstays continue to dominate the basic conversation across your IG feed, there are a handful of genuinely interesting watches that fly under the radar. Brands like Parmigiani Fleurier, Piaget, and Girard-Perregaux all make some seriously compelling sport watches with no shortage of horological chops to back them up. Sure, they’re still expensive, and might not triple their value in as many years, but if you care to look beyond the price/hype/investment nonsense you may be surprised at what you find.

Girard-Perregaux is celebrating their 230th anniversary this year, a milestone it shares with the discovery of the material titanium (hat tip to English clergyman, William Gregor, there). To acknowledge the shared anniversary, Girard-Perregaux has introduced a pair of limited edition watches to their Laureato Absolute collection dubbed, fittingly, the Ti 230. As you might have surmised, the Ti 230 watches are constructed of Grade 5 titanium which allow for a mixture of blasted and polished textures to be applied, which G-P has taken full advantage of. 

The titanium case measures 44mm in diameter and features flat polished facets against a bead blasted base providing a subtle contrast not often associated with titanium cases. The case of the Laureato provides plenty of opportunity on this front, thanks to the unusual shapes the comprise the watch, from a rounded, integrated midcase, an octagonal bezel piece with a circular viewing area at its center. The look is unique, which seems to be the ante to play in this category as a whole, while the toned down color and texture of the titanium balances out the complexity of the design.

There are two dials on option here, each limited to 230 pieces (naturally). The first is dark grey fume execution while the second is blue, and also gets the fume treatment. The dials are constructed sandwich style, with the hour markers falling into deep recessions, and a date aperture appearing at 6 o’clock. Thick, almost dive style baton hands track the time and bring a confidence to the dial that plays up the brut, sporting nature of the watches. 

Inside, Girard-Perregaux is using their own manufacture movement, the calibre GP03300-1060, which is not visible through the caseback as this one gets an engraved Absolute logo. This decision suits the watch just fine, while the movement is certainly very nice, it’s not particularly beautiful. 

The Absolute Ti 230 is offered on a rather interesting integrated strap, which is made of “GP Rubber Alloy” and is injected with titanium. What this means, exactly, is a little unclear from the materials I’ve received, but it sure sounds cool. I’ve reached out to Girard-Perregaux for clarification and will update the article accordingly. 

The Laureato Absolute Ti 230 is priced at $9,300, and the blue variation will be available exclusively from Wempe retailers. Girard-Perregaux.